Monday, May 16, 2022
  • English
  • Français
  • فارسی
  • عربى
PODCASTS
NCRI Women Committee
  • Home
  • News
    • Women’s News
    • Articles
    • Statements
  • Publications
    • Monthlies
    • Documents
    • Reference Library
  • About Us
    • Women’s Committee of Iran NCRI
    • Gender Equality
    • Women’s Platform
  • Maryam Rajavi
    • Biography
    • Maryam Rajavi Speeches
    • Ten Point Plan for Iran
    • Ten Point Plan for Women
  • Vanguards
    • Fallen for Freedom
    • Heroines in Chain
    • Women of Iranian Resistance
    • Famous Women
    • Women in History
  • Events
    • IWD Conferences
    • IWD Speeches
    • Activities
    • Solidarity
  • Videos
    • Events
    • International Solidarity
    • International Women’s Day
    • NCRI Women’s Committee Presentations
    • Other Activities in Iran
    • Violence Against Women in Iran
    • Women in Iran Protests, Uprising
  • Podcast
  • Donate
  • Contact us
No Result
View All Result
NCRI Women Committee
  • Home
  • News
    • Women’s News
    • Articles
    • Statements
  • Publications
    • Monthlies
    • Documents
    • Reference Library
  • About Us
    • Women’s Committee of Iran NCRI
    • Gender Equality
    • Women’s Platform
  • Maryam Rajavi
    • Biography
    • Maryam Rajavi Speeches
    • Ten Point Plan for Iran
    • Ten Point Plan for Women
  • Vanguards
    • Fallen for Freedom
    • Heroines in Chain
    • Women of Iranian Resistance
    • Famous Women
    • Women in History
  • Events
    • IWD Conferences
    • IWD Speeches
    • Activities
    • Solidarity
  • Videos
    • Events
    • International Solidarity
    • International Women’s Day
    • NCRI Women’s Committee Presentations
    • Other Activities in Iran
    • Violence Against Women in Iran
    • Women in Iran Protests, Uprising
  • Podcast
  • Donate
  • Contact us
No Result
View All Result
NCRI Women Committee
No Result
View All Result
Home Articles
A glance at conditions of female workers in Iran

The deplorable conditions of female workers in Iran

April 30, 2022
in Articles
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Every year on May 1, we celebrate International Workers’ Day. However, this is a day of grave concern for labor activists and female workers in Iran.

You might also like

Brave mothers rise up to expose crimes of Iranian Revolutionary Guards

International Earth Day – A look at the mullahs’ destructive policies

Iranian heroines whose epic resistance saved Ashraf

In Iran, the labor market is generally male. In 2019, the official total number of employed women was 3 million, of whom 1 million were out of work by the end of 2020 due to Coronavirus-related conditions. The state-run Jameh24.com website estimates women’s unemployment to be 14 times higher than men’s (The state-run Jameh24.com – April 13, 2021).

However, the clerical regime continually makes deceptive calculations. According to Omid Ali Parsa, head of the regime’s statistics center, anyone who works for even 1 hour per week is counted among the labor force (The state-run Tasnim News Agency – October 17, 2016).

Despite their many talents, efforts to remain independent, and ability to help their families, Iranian women are considered cheap labor. They receive lower wages and fewer benefits than their male counterparts. Moreover, women are the first to be fired or laid off.

At the beginning of 2022, the media reported disturbing news about the widespread expulsion of women from the workplace and the labor market. Since then, the layoffs reported have extended to businesses, factories, and municipalities.

Mohammad Reza Mahboubfar, a social trauma expert, believes that the country’s inflationary recession and lack of government support for women have provided employers the optimal excuse to exclude women from the workforce.

Meanwhile, the number of female-headed households – already high – is increasing. Women’s unemployment has become a crisis (The state-run Jameh24.com – April 13, 2021).

A glance at conditions of female workers in Iran

Underground female workers in Iran

On International Workers’ Day, it is essential to focus on the conditions of female workers in Iran rather than those who are unemployed. Despite the inconsistencies and secrecy of the regime when it comes to providing information, it has been reported that at least 3 million women work in underground workshops (The state-run ROKNA News Agency – August 1, 2021).

The service industry employs more women than men. Since this type of work requires heavy manual labor, female workers experience pain in their hands, feet, and shoulders. In addition to physical pain, these women experience constant anxiety: should they get injured, they will lose their only source of income.

In Iran’s Kurdish areas, women must carry heavy freights or work in construction to support themselves and their families. It has become common for women to carry heavy freights in the border provinces of Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, and Kermanshah (The state-run ILNA News Agency – April 12, 2021).

Another grueling task that women take on to earn a living is working in kilns. The kilns lack safety standards; moreover, the female employees have no contracts, only loosely defined agreements. Workers’ salaries are between 100,000 ($3.9) and 150,000 ($5.8) Tomans per day, and they are not paid on holidays.

Shifts are from 7:00 am until sunset. Despite the long working hours, the women still cannot support themselves and their families. They must pay transportation costs, which are extremely high given the commuting distances from the city to factories.

“There are no jobs in our area,” said a female worker in a brick factory. “I had to work here. I now have a lumbar disc. We stay in the workshop dormitories for six months of the year. We are deprived of safe drinking water and bathing and sanitary facilities. This has made our children sick,” she added (The state-run Shahrara daily, December 12, 2021).

The National Statistical Center’s website and those of other mainstream state media outlets have failed to publish any specific statistics on women workers in the past few years.  However, according to the latest statistics, of the women who are considered official workers, 1,246 work in quarries, sand extraction work sites, and iron ore extraction (The state-run ISNA News Agency – February 9, 2022).

A glance at conditions of female workers in Iran

Female workers in Iran have zero rights

The situation of female workers in Iran cannot be compared to that of other groups. Women in Iran work under harsh, substandard conditions in exchange for meager salaries with no benefits or insurance. About 80% of uninsured employees are women (The report of the Social Security Organization, 2017).

Nobody oversees the work of underground female workers in Iran. Most of these workers earn 700,000 or 800,000 Tomans per month ($27.3 -$31.2), which is less than the minimum wage set by the regime’s labor laws (The state-run ROKNA News Agency – August 1, 2021).

Labor laws do not apply to female workers in Iran. Laws against women working in difficult and dangerous jobs, staffing night shifts, and carrying heavy loads are routinely ignored.

In a heartbreaking accident in November 2021, a female textile worker, Marzieh Taherian, lost her life when a spinning machine sucked in her head. The day before the tragic incident, Marzieh complained about the hardships of working at night.

“We have to take a night shift once a week, but we do not dare say anything,” said one female worker. “There are no jobs in our area,” said a female worker in a brick factory. “I had to work here. I now have a lumbar disc. We stay in the workshop dormitories for 6 months of the year. We are deprived of safe drinking water and bathing and sanitary facilities. This has made our children sick,” she added (The state-run Shahrara daily, December 12, 2021).

It must be considered that more than half of the 5 million women heads of households in Iran are illiterate. The number of female-headed households is increasing by about 120,000 per year (The mullahs’ parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, January 25, 2022; Welfare Organization official, Massoudi Farid, the state-run Mehr News Agency, October 19, 2021).

A glance at conditions of female workers in Iran

Crushed hopes for female workers in Iran under the mullahs’ rule

In 2021, workers formed several protest movements, calling for an increase in wages. However, the year was not over before a massive wave of inflation crushed all hopes of improving workers’ conditions.

According to official statistics, inflation increased by 15% within the first month of the New Year. Workers and their families can barely make ends meet, let alone female workers in Iran who do not receive even the regime-approved minimum.

According to independent data from the Wage Committee of the Supreme Center of the Regime’s Councils, the cost of providing livelihoods for working families has exceeded the ten million-Toman mark. To put it in better context, if working families want to have a single hot meal per day, their monthly living expenses will exceed 10 million Tomans (The state-run ILNA news agency – April 26, 2022).

Remarkably, the wage limit defined by the clerical regime for workers in 2022 is 2.555 million Tomans (The state-run IMNA news agency – March 2, 2022). By this definition, male workers who receive the minimum wage must make a living on a quarter of the poverty line.

State media outlets currently report that the poverty line is at 12 million Tomans, an amount that female workers in Iran are never paid.

Given the political impasse and the clerical regime’s economic collapse, conditions for female workers will continue to deteriorate. Moreover, with the selection of Ebrahim Raisi as president – an economic illiterate who is commonly known as the mullahs’ executioner – the situation of female workers in Iran will deteriorate every day, and their futures and any prospects for their families will remain bleak.

ShareTweetPinShare

Recommended For You

Brave mothers rise up to expose crimes of Iranian Revolutionary Guards

April 26, 2022
Brave mothers rise up to expose crimes of Iranian Revolutionary Guards

Brave mothers rise up to expose the crimes of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards April 27, 1981, has been registered under the name of brave mothers in the history...

Read more

International Earth Day – A look at the mullahs’ destructive policies

April 21, 2022
International Earth Day – A look at the mullahs’ destructive policies

International Earth Day – A look at the mullahs’ destructive policies April 22 is called International Earth Day. This is a day to raise awareness and appreciation of...

Read more

Iranian heroines whose epic resistance saved Ashraf

April 7, 2022
Iranian heroines whose epic resistance saved Ashraf

Iranian heroines whose epic resistance saved Ashraf One of the most courageous confrontations in the world's history of nationalist wars and liberation movements took place on April 8,...

Read more

Sports, social equality and growth, a tortuous path for Iranian women

April 6, 2022
Sports, social equality and growth, a tortuous path for Iranian women

The International Day of Sports for Development and Peace (IDSDP), which takes place annually on April 6, presents an opportunity to recognize the positive role that sport and...

Read more

No panic because we know what we must do – Olena Zelenska

March 30, 2022
No panic because we know what we must do – Olena Zelenska

The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, had an interview with the French daily, Le Parisien, published on March 22. In this interview, she speaks about her struggle...

Read more
Next Post
1 Iranian educators and teachers - Kermanshah-min

Iranian educators and teachers protested on International Labor Day

Documents

Climate change in Iran, women are the prime victims

Climate change in Iran, women are the prime victims

March 9, 2022

The clerical regime is the main culprit “Climate Change in Iran; women are the prime victims, the clerical regime is...

Brave and resilient, Iranian women lead the fight for freedom and equality

Brave and resilient, Iranian women lead the fight for freedom and equality

March 1, 2022

NCRI Annual Report 2022; Iranian women lead the fight for freedom and equality On the eve of International Women’s Day,...

spread of violence against women

The spread of violence against women in Iran, the mullahs’ ploy to control society

November 23, 2021

The Iranian Judiciary covers up violence against women In today’s Iran, we witness the constant spread of violence against women....

Monthlies

Monthly Report April 22 - restrictions on female students
Monthlies

Monthly Report April 22 – restrictions on female students

May 5, 2022
Monthly March 2022 –Female football fans in Iran pepper sprayed
Monthlies

Monthly March 2022 –Female football fans in Iran pepper sprayed

April 3, 2022
Monthly Report January 2022; Lives of political prisoners in danger
Monthlies

Monthly Report January 2022; Lives of political prisoners in danger

February 4, 2022
Monthly Report December 2021 – The executions of women in Iran
Monthlies

Monthly Report December 2021 – The executions of women in Iran

January 3, 2022

Articles

A glance at conditions of female workers in Iran

The deplorable conditions of female workers in Iran

April 30, 2022

Every year on May 1, we celebrate International Workers' Day. However, this is a day of grave concern for labor...

Brave mothers rise up to expose crimes of Iranian Revolutionary Guards

Brave mothers rise up to expose crimes of Iranian Revolutionary Guards

April 26, 2022

Brave mothers rise up to expose the crimes of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards April 27, 1981, has been registered under...

International Earth Day – A look at the mullahs’ destructive policies

International Earth Day – A look at the mullahs’ destructive policies

April 21, 2022

International Earth Day – A look at the mullahs’ destructive policies April 22 is called International Earth Day. This is...

The Fallen for Freedom

Nosrat Ramezani
The Fallen for Freedom

Nosrat Ramezani

May 1, 2022
Sorayya Abolfathi
The Fallen for Freedom

Sorayya Abolfathi

November 6, 2021
Fatemeh Zarei will always be remembered for sacrificing for her people
The Fallen for Freedom

Fatemeh Zarei

October 16, 2021
Azadeh Tabib
The Fallen for Freedom

Azadeh Tabib

September 28, 2021

ABOUT US

NCRI Women Committee

We work extensively with Iranian women outside the country and maintain a permanent contact with women inside Iran. The Women’s Committee is actively involved with many women’s rights organizations and NGO’s and the Iranian diaspora.
The committee is a major source of much of the information received from inside Iran with regards to women. Attending UN Human Rights Council meetings and other international or regional conferences on women’s issues and engaging in a relentless battle against the Iranian regime’s misogyny are part of the activities of members and associates of the committee.

CATEGORIES

  • Activities
  • Articles
  • Documents
  • Events
  • Famous Women
  • Heroines in Chain
  • International Solidarity
  • International Women's Day
  • IWD Conferences
  • IWD Speeches
  • Maryam Rajavi
  • Maryam Rajavi Speeches
  • Monthlies
  • NCRI Women's Committee Presentations
  • Other Activities in Iran
  • Podcast
  • Reference Library
  • Solidarity
  • Statements
  • The Fallen for Freedom
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Violence Against Women in Iran
  • Women in History
  • Women in Iran Protests, Uprising
  • Women of Iranian Resistance
  • Women's News

BROWSE BY TAG

Child marriage coronavirus education execution forced hijab Gender Gap Generation Equality Honor killings Iran Teachers Maryam Akbari Monfared Nurses Poverty Prisoners Protests rural women Saba Kord Afshari The girl child Violence against women Women's Leadership Women Heads of Household Zeinab Jalalian

The copyright of all the material published on this website has been registered under © 2016 the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. To obtain permission to copy, redistribute or publish the material published on this website, you should write to the NCRI Women’s Committee. Please include the link of the original article on our website, women.ncr-iran.org.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Women’s News
    • Articles
    • Statements
  • Publications
    • Monthlies
    • Documents
    • Reference Library
  • About Us
    • The NCRI Women’s Committee
    • Gender Equality
    • Women’s Platform
  • Maryam Rajavi
    • Maryam Rajavi Speeches
    • Ten Point Plan for Iran
    • Ten Point Plan for Women
  • Vanguards
    • The Fallen for Freedom
    • Heroines in Chain
    • Women of Iranian Resistance
    • Famous Women
    • Women in History
  • Events
    • IWD Conferences
    • Activities
    • IWD Speeches
    • Solidarity
  • Videos
  • Podcast
  • Donate
  • Contact us
  • فارسی
  • عربی
  • Français

The copyright of all the material published on this website has been registered under © 2016 the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. To obtain permission to copy, redistribute or publish the material published on this website, you should write to the NCRI Women’s Committee. Please include the link of the original article on our website, women.ncr-iran.org.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist